Witness In Court - Claiming Lost Earnings
Discussion
Later this month I have to appear at Magistrates Court as a witness for the prosecution team. I work shift work and the court date falls on a day where I am meant to be working a twelve hour day shift.
In my terms and conditions of employment, there is no mention of what the company will do with regards to payment on such an occasion. I spoke to the welfare dept, who said they will treat it as they do jury service.
This means they would pay me my basic dialy rate of 7.5 hours pay. However, because I work this particular shift pattern, my 'normal' wage for that day would be 12 hours at the shift rate which is 17.5% of my hourly rate on top of the hours worked.
For example, if my hourly rate was £10, my employer would normally pay me £141 for that particular day (before tax etc.). As they will only pay the 'normal' 7.5 hours (£75), I will be considerably out of pocket (my actual hourly rate is a fair bit more than that, I just used £10 as it made it easier to do the sums).
As my employer will pay me part of the money for that day, is it simply a case of claiming the other part from the court? The welfare dept has said I must get a Certificate of Loss of Earnings that they can fill out. I've since found out that this only applies for jury service and that witnesses must use expenses claim forms.
On the gov.uk website it says the maximum I can claim for 4 hours (which it's expected to take) is £33.50 - it looks like I'm going to be well and truly shafted in the wallet for doing a good deed and I can't even get out of it!
Is there a way I can be paid what I should, or am I going to be shafted?
In my terms and conditions of employment, there is no mention of what the company will do with regards to payment on such an occasion. I spoke to the welfare dept, who said they will treat it as they do jury service.
This means they would pay me my basic dialy rate of 7.5 hours pay. However, because I work this particular shift pattern, my 'normal' wage for that day would be 12 hours at the shift rate which is 17.5% of my hourly rate on top of the hours worked.
For example, if my hourly rate was £10, my employer would normally pay me £141 for that particular day (before tax etc.). As they will only pay the 'normal' 7.5 hours (£75), I will be considerably out of pocket (my actual hourly rate is a fair bit more than that, I just used £10 as it made it easier to do the sums).
As my employer will pay me part of the money for that day, is it simply a case of claiming the other part from the court? The welfare dept has said I must get a Certificate of Loss of Earnings that they can fill out. I've since found out that this only applies for jury service and that witnesses must use expenses claim forms.
On the gov.uk website it says the maximum I can claim for 4 hours (which it's expected to take) is £33.50 - it looks like I'm going to be well and truly shafted in the wallet for doing a good deed and I can't even get out of it!
Is there a way I can be paid what I should, or am I going to be shafted?
TooMany2cvs said:
If ever you're involved in a court case as either the victim or the accused, I hope none of the witnesses you'll be relying on will put their pocket above justice.
So just suck it up, nothing anyone can do for you, unlucky?!?!What if the OP is dependant on the money that he will lose? is there a way it can be claimed back?
I can understand righteous comments on here sometimes, but the OP is only asking if there is a way he can claim back what he will lose.
TooMany2cvs said:
ikarl said:
What if the OP is dependant on the money that he will lose?
Perhaps you missed that his employer is willing to pay him his normal daily rate. What he's missing out on is the extra which he would have been paid for working a long shift - which he isn't working.WinstonWolf said:
TooMany2cvs said:
ikarl said:
What if the OP is dependant on the money that he will lose?
Perhaps you missed that his employer is willing to pay him his normal daily rate. What he's missing out on is the extra which he would have been paid for working a long shift - which he isn't working.TooMany2cvs said:
ikarl said:
What if the OP is dependant on the money that he will lose?
Perhaps you missed that his employer is willing to pay him his normal daily rate. What he's missing out on is the extra which he would have been paid for working a long shift - which he isn't working.However, that being said, my post was more about why you would have a go at the OP for asking the question than actually answer his question.
It would have been much more helpful and this thread could have been closed a lot quicker.
TooMany2cvs said:
If ever you're involved in a court case as either the victim or the accused, I hope none of the witnesses you'll be relying on will put their pocket above justice.
Justice trumps pocket - you're not allowed to say 'no'This is the bit that grates. The fact that they can compel you to attend court, but not reimburse you for the earnings that are lost. I want to see the defendant prosecuted (that's why I made a statement to the police), but it's a bit galling that I should effectively have to pay for the privilege (of course with no guarantee that what I say in court will make any difference).
Breadvan72 said:
OP, try to be philosophical and see this as the price of living in a civilized society. Sometimes the burden falls unevenly. It's one of those things. Can you not prevail on the good will of a colleague to swap shifts?
BV - even if a work colleague was to agree to do it, it wouldn't work out. The rules are a bit complicated, but it would mean we were both paid a premium on top of our normal pay as we weren't doing our own shifts and the management would not sanction this. Also we would not be able to clock in on each others clock cards for insurance reasons (not to mention it's a sackable offence). Thanks for your input, though.ETA: Looks like I'm going to have to swallow it. Wouldn't be so bad if I was <i>choosing</i> to go to court. I don't have that choice. When I made my statement to the police, I really didn't expect to end up in court. It's pretty obvious the defendant is guilty - even the police can't understand why they are contesting it.
Edited by Macadoodle on Wednesday 8th October 16:19
Breadvan72 said:
mel said:
That's easy for the Barista to say, do you apply the same principles for your appearances? 
Derr. I get paid to go to court because it's my job, apart from when I act pro bono. If I was going to court as a witness or juror I wouldn't get paid.Breadvan72 said:
Derr. I get paid to go to court because it's my job, apart from when I act pro bono. If I was going to court as a witness or juror I wouldn't get paid.
You're stupidly rich though. So the loss of a days, or even a few weeks earnings, would be a drop in the ocean to you.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff